Skip to main content

'Hard Knocks': What If HBO Filmed the Falcons?

Forget the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Boasts Its Own Fascinating Storylines

Yeah, yeah. We all tuned in Tuesday night to HBO's Hard Knocks series featuring the Dallas Cowboys.

It is, after all, a TV show about football.

Dak Prescott's scarred ankle and sore arm. Jerry Jones' tears (and over-salted McGriddle). Ezekiel Elliott's questionable gift-wrapping. Mike McCarthy's weird fascination with Austin Powers.

But why the Cowboys? 

Dallas might be the NFL's most valuable franchise at $6.5 billion but, in case anyone has been keeping up, the organization formerly known as "America's Team" hasn't sniffed a Super Bowl in 26 years.

READ MORE: Kyle Pitts Sends Early Message With Spectacular Training Camp Catch

While the Cowboys are making their third appearance on Hard Knocks, there are 19 teams yet to be in the spotlight. The Atlanta Falcons have been spotlighted only once, in 2014.

That cameo appearance seven years ago featured in-his-prime Matt Ryan, receivers named Roddy White and Julio Jones and owner Arthur Blank checking in on the ground-breaking of a new construction site: Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

But why not a Round 2 for the Falcons?

If this Summer HBO turned its cameras to the sights, sounds and storylines of Flowery Branch, America would be fixated. The Top 5 plots:

5. Strange Sight - For the first time in 10 years the Falcons will be without receiver Julio Jones, one of the most popular and productive players in franchise history.

4. Matty Melt? - Now 36 and without his all-time favorite target (see No. 5), does quarterback Matt Ryan have enough left in the tank to push Atlanta to another Super Bowl?

3. Hawks Blueprint - After watching the Atlanta Hawks make a surprising run to the brink of the NBA Finals earlier this summer, can the Falcons feed off their energy - and plan - for similar success?

2. Arthur x 2 - While Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank is one of the NFL's most respected owners, it's up to rookie head coach Arthur Smith to make his run-heavy offensive approach work in Atlanta.

1. Life in the Pitts - As the NFL's highest-drafted tight end, can Kyle Pitts inject energy - and wins - into a franchise playing in the shadow of division foe and defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay?

CONTINUE READING: If the Hawks can do it, why not the Falcons?